Florida Man Used Online Dating Service to Find, Rape Woman

Marcelo Alves faces life in prison after being convicted of raping a woman he met via SugarDaddyforMe.com. Alves tried to say the rape was consensual sex, but the pantyhose mask he wore—and large knife he carried—undermined his argument.

It’s a sad story every which way you look at it—Alves leaves a woman traumatized and victimized, and also a wife and children who will now suffer the consequences of his actions. The only bright spot in this case is something that isn’t new, but very important and worth celebrating: the media’s policy of keeping the names of rape victims confidential. Given the nature of the SugarDaddyforMe.com, which hooks up sugar babies of both sexes with men and women with “benefactors,” so to speak, you can just imagine how people might freak out and attack the victim if she were identified.

Thanksgiving’s long over, but let’s resurrect our attitudes of gratitude for just a moment here and give thanks for this important privacy-protecting practice.

Woman describes rape by a man she met through sugardaddyforme.com [Orlando Sentinel]